Thank you for bringing GREAT JOY to hurting people – You changed Patrick’s life!

Patrick grew up in a loving family, but he always felt like something was missing from his life. When he was 17, he sought acceptance from his peers to fill the hole. “I started smoking marijuana because everybody I knew was smoking it and I wanted to fit in,” he says.

But he felt emptier than ever and his drug use escalated. For more than a decade, Patrick struggled with addiction, which cost him jobs and alienated his beloved family. But it was his deep love for them that, finally, drove him to change.

“It was Mother’s Day and my mom called in tears, saying that my family missed me. They were all at her house. Where was I? And, for the first time, she said that I was an addict and I needed to get help.”

That was all it took. Patrick entered our Life Change Program, and through chapel services, Bible studies and prayer, he surrendered his life to the Lord. “One day, after a time of worship and prayer, I felt this huge weight come off my shoulders,” he says. “That’s the day I was saved and the next month I was baptized.”

Patrick’s newfound faith and our Christian counselors have helped him find emotional healing, as well. “Before coming to the Mission, I couldn’t look in the mirror because I didn’t like the person I saw there. But now, I smile back at myself.”

Since he graduated from our program, Patrick has been serving as an intern at the Mission, working as our Kitchen Manager. He’s also looking forward to getting his own place one day, and spending more time with his family. “They’re 100 percent behind me,” he says.”

This year, Patrick will be celebrating Christmas as a new creation, filled with the great joy of God’s love. “Before I came to the Mission, I was lost and broken, but now I’m free.”

To read our Holiday 2020 issue of The Lifeline, click here.